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| Photo: BBC News |
Students from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Central Lancashire working in an archaeological field school have found one of the most unique burials from Anglo-Saxon England.
The burial contains an elite female buried with a cow. While Horse Burials are sometimes
found, they typically contain elite males, but female burials with a cow are
otherwise unknown in early medieval Europe.
According to the BBC interview with Co-director of the excavation, Dr Duncan Sayer, from the University of Central Lancashire: “Animal burials are extremely rare, anyway. There are only 31 horse burials in Britain and they are all with men.
“This is the first animal to be discovered with a woman from this period – the late fifth Century – and it’s really interesting that it’s a cow, a symbol of economic and domestic wealth and power.
The woman was also buried with other grave goods indicative of high-status including “a complete chatelaine [keychain] set, which is an iron
girdle.”
girdle.”
